Before working in the Microsoft industry, Laura was working in the charity sector as a Project Assistant/Office 365 Specialist for 3 years and before that was in various support roles. She fully entered the Microsoft industry when accepting a job offer with HCL in Nov 2021. She then completed the CIT Program in March 2022, and it's been the most amazing ride of her life so far.

She loves all things creative, and Microsoft related and can't wait to see what the future holds. Laura spends her time outside of work, blogging about the Power Platform community and her journey in the hope to inspire and support others. She likes to merge her love of tech with her love of art & design, to try to bring even more fun to the topics and activities she presents to the community. Her career and general way of life have always been built around the concepts of inspiration, support, and simplifying everything! She hopes to use these concepts to make a positive impact on the Microsoft community and whoever else dares to listen.

Before working in the Microsoft industry, Laura was working in the charity sector as a Project Assistant/Office 365 Specialist for 3 years and before that was in various support roles. She fully entered the Microsoft industry when accepting a job off... Show more

Kelly J Andrews is a developer advocate and has been tinkering with computers for over 35 years.

He enjoys teaching new developers how to navigate through the industry, work out their insecurities, and build everyone up together.

You'll also find him doing magic somewhere.

Kelly J Andrews is a developer advocate and has been tinkering with computers for over 35 years. He enjoys teaching new developers how to navigate through the industry, work out their insecurities, and build everyone up together. You'll also fi... Show more

Product Designer, Art Director and Public Speaker with over 6 years of experience in the fields of product design, advertising, and marketing. Over the last couple of years, he’s had the opportunity to work with a wide range of clients, from small local courier companies to top-notch NY-based startups like Hive or Oncimmune. Continuously exceeding clients’ expectations, he has helped many great companies build better products and reach their brand-related goals.

As a Public Speaker, he has presented his ideas at events such as UXDX Berlin, Dribbble Meetup or Creative Mikser. The latter, hosted by British Council and the City of Warsaw, was a meetup dedicated to designing for inclusion and accessibility, a subject Wojciech is truly passionate about and experienced in.

A proud member of one of the best design teams in the world (the Netguru PD team has been rated the #1 trending design team on Dribbble globally multiple times). When not working on commercial projects, our team analyzes market trends, deepens the knowledge of accessibility design, or just watches Friends.

Product Designer, Art Director and Public Speaker with over 6 years of experience in the fields of product design, advertising, and marketing. Over the last couple of years, he’s had the opportunity to work with a wide range of clients, from small lo... Show more

South African born, UK resident, Mike is a Mechanical Design Engineer & spent 20 years as a Draughtsman in the Dairy industry, a Project Technician & ran the drawing office for NCD/Clover Dairies. At Toyota, he worked as a mechanical designer in body in white. He moved to the UK in 2001, spent 7 years creating & designing 3D technical models.
He continued his studies in IT & enhanced his developer & web design skills at Halesowen College.
At age 50, in 2008 Mike jumped tracks & began a new career as IT Manager & NAV implementation project leader for SSI Schaefer in Andover, England. With the NAV project successfully implemented, he moved to Evosoft as support office manager, then to Sci-Net in Oxford as a consultant & then to KPMG for a three year corporate engagement.
As the Dynamics 365 Solution Architect for Experience/GCC for almost 3 years - now Global Solutions Architect for Dynavics, Mike has implemented multiple D365 solutions for a range of customers in a variety of industries in the UK.

South African born, UK resident, Mike is a Mechanical Design Engineer & spent 20 years as a Draughtsman in the Dairy industry, a Project Technician & ran the drawing office for NCD/Clover Dairies. At Toyota, he worked as a mechanical designer in body... Show more

Akhil is a pragmatic designer with expertise in conceptual design, augmented reality, and construction administration. Passionate about integrating AI and automation into the AEC industry, he's also a self-taught programmer creating applications for applied technology. His diverse portfolio includes single-family homes, commercial buildings, senior-living, K-12, and mixed-use developments. Actively involved in the community, Akhil has served on the board of Freedom by Design and is the President of the AIA Savannah Young Architects Forum. Committed to democratizing emerging technologies, he pushes boundaries in AEC with AI and innovative tech solutions.

Akhil is a pragmatic designer with expertise in conceptual design, augmented reality, and construction administration. Passionate about integrating AI and automation into the AEC industry, he's also a self-taught programmer creating applications for ... Show more

Neringa Young is the Founder of Build Stuff conferences, which she personally manages – recruiting and working with the team, looking for the partners, creating marketing strategies and implementation of the conference promotion. She is also helping with logistics and creating the content of the event. For each year she invites 80 leading speakers from the Tech industry from around the world to come to the Baltics for this 5-day event.
The success of her leadership is seen through the results of the event which every year attracts more than 1400 software developers, with the same participants returning every year as the event grows.
Outside of the workplace, Neringa is involved with initiatives like Women Go Tech where she mentors young women, providing them with advice and direction for their careers in the tech sector.
She is the founder and manager of FIX.Events which runs meetings, training, conferences, private and public events for private & corporate clients.
During her university studies, she was simultaneous working as a Telemarketing sales representative. In just 2 years (2009), she was promoted on the basis of good results to become the Sales team lead at Lintel. At the age of 22, she was responsible for over 100 telemarketing sales managers. Her responsibilities included – hiring staff, training staff, coaching, organizing work across the wider team and implementing company sales strategies.
At AB TEO (now Telia), she initiated, formed and managed a team that is composed of both technical- and sales-personnel to boost sales in line with the company’s sales strategy. Her responsibilities included human resource management – hiring staff, training, coaching, organizing teamwork and working with sales strategies.
During the time she was working at AB TEO, she also published her Master thesis on an HR Topic: "Coaching for the Development of Organizational Personnel (Case of an X Organization, Lithuania)"; 2012 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION REFORM AND MANAGEMENT, INNOVATION (ERMI 2012), VOL 1 Pages: 54-60 Published: 2013; Conference: International, Conference on Education Reform and Management Innovation (ERMI 2012) Location: Shenzhen, PEOPLES R CHINA Date: DEC 04-05, 2012.

Neringa Young is the Founder of Build Stuff conferences, which she personally manages – recruiting and working with the team, looking for the partners, creating marketing strategies and implementation of the conference promotion. She is also helping ... Show more

Tin (Martin Salias) es artista y forma parte del colectivo Lagar.

Lleva más de 40 años desarrollando software y ha trabajado en proyectos a lo largo de América, Australia y Europa, para organizaciones tan variadas como las Naciones Unidas o Microsoft Corp. Ha desarrollado en diversas plataformas y lenguajes como Assembler, C/C++, Java, .NET, Cobol, Fortran, Python y Ruby. 

Es Certified Trainer de Scrum Alliance, y dedica gran parte de su tiempo a iniciativas sociales como Proyecto Nahual.

Tin (Martin Salias) es artista y forma parte del colectivo Lagar. Lleva más de 40 años desarrollando software y ha trabajado en proyectos a lo largo de América, Australia y Europa, para organizaciones tan variadas como las Naciones Unidas o Micros... Show more

Jason Plumb (he/him) is a hacker, artist, experimenter, polyglot programmer, and dad from Portland, OR, USA. He is co-maintainer of OpenTelemetry Android and an approver in various OpenTelemetry java projects. When not at work, Jason volunteers with Futel to install and maintain a network of free public payphones. He also builds synthesizers, experiments with sound, screens classic cult films, and rides steel-frame bicycles.

Jason Plumb (he/him) is a hacker, artist, experimenter, polyglot programmer, and dad from Portland, OR, USA. He is co-maintainer of OpenTelemetry Android and an approver in various OpenTelemetry java projects. When not at work, Jason volunteers with ... Show more

Nox, also known as Miles Brower, is a 21-year-old furry, electronic music producer and DJ who has been part of both communities since 2014. With nearly a decade of experience producing EDM, he officially signed his first track with a label in 2023. His work has received recognition and support from several well-known names in the EDM scene, such as Skytech, Julian Jordan and Ray Volpe. Passionate about sharing his journey and insights, Nox aims to inspire and help others grow as artists within the fandom and beyond.

Nox, also known as Miles Brower, is a 21-year-old furry, electronic music producer and DJ who has been part of both communities since 2014. With nearly a decade of experience producing EDM, he officially signed his first track with a label in 2023. H... Show more

Hayleigh is the author of Lustre, Gleam's most popular frontend Web framework as well as an ecosystem of packages that support it. She is an experienced Web developer and Elm engineer. More recently, Hayleigh has spent the last few years acting as a developer evangelist; spreading the good word about types, the BEAM, and Gleam to anyone with the patience to listen to her.

Hayleigh is the author of Lustre, Gleam's most popular frontend Web framework as well as an ecosystem of packages that support it. She is an experienced Web developer and Elm engineer. More recently, Hayleigh has spent the last few years acting as a... Show more

Van Tran Nguyen (she/her) is a Vietnamese American artist-scholar, practicing filmmaker, curator, and multimedia artist. In 2017, Tran Nguyen earned a master's degree in fine arts from the State University of New York, at Buffalo. Then in 2021, she earned her doctorate in the Philosophy of Electronic Art at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

Her research investigates Asian American performance and media(tions) of the diaspora. Tran Nguyen’s monograph, No Bodies Home: Mediations of Performance in Exile explores Cold War technological advancement and argues that racialized and gendered bodies of the Asian diaspora are the material and technological output of warfare. Her first short film, ERIE COUNTY SMILE, was released in 2021 and is available for public access via the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Her first full-length feature film, THE MOTHERLOAD, premiered at the Hawaii International Film Festival with support from the Vilcek Foundation’s New American Perspectives.

In the fall of 2021, she was appointed the Maya Brin Institute for New Performance and Technology Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is currently an Early Career Fellow at the UCLA Center on Race & Digital Justice. In the fall of 2024, she joined the Department of Performing Arts at Georgetown University as the Assistant Professor of Performance and Media. Dr. Tran Nguyen teaches courses across theory and practice including performance, digital filmmaking, and film & media history.

Van Tran Nguyen (she/her) is a Vietnamese American artist-scholar, practicing filmmaker, curator, and multimedia artist. In 2017, Tran Nguyen earned a master's degree in fine arts from the State University of New York, at Buffalo. Then in 2021, she e... Show more

grace shinhae jun is a mother, wife, artist, educator, and scholar. The daughter of a South Korean immigrant and a North Korean refugee, she comes from a lineage of deep love and commitment to serve the people. She has performed nationally and internationally with bkSOUL performance collective which she founded in 2001. Her research and artistic practices are grounded in Hip Hop culture and cross cultural collaborations that challenge the systems of violence and oppression steeped in anti-Blackness. Her scholarship includes publications in the Oxford Handbook of Hip Hop Dance Studies, the International Association for the Study of Popular Music Journal, and is the co-editor for Dance Studies Association’s 2022 ​​Conversations Across the Field of Dance Studies. She is an Assistant Professor of Dance at San Diego City College, teaches with transcenDANCE Youth Arts, and at UCSD where she was the recipient of the 2022/2023 Barbara and Paul Saltman Distinguished Teaching Award. Ph.D. Drama & Theatre UCSD/UCI, MFA Dance Sarah Lawrence College.

grace shinhae jun is a mother, wife, artist, educator, and scholar. The daughter of a South Korean immigrant and a North Korean refugee, she comes from a lineage of deep love and commitment to serve the people. She has performed nationally and intern... Show more

I'm Miwok, with ancestral homelands surrounding Sacramento, California. Our stories and sovereignty are not relics of the past — they are the foundation for powerful futures. I believe technology should serve Native communities, not define us. My work focuses on using tech thoughtfully to amplify Indigenous knowledge, voices, and resilience.

Currently, I serve as President of Natives in Tech, a national nonprofit where I lead efforts to connect Native communities to technology through mentorship, education, and culturally-rooted innovation. I also work as a Cultural Technologist for a Federally Recognized Tribe, designing and implementing STEAM education initiatives, digital storytelling projects, and grant-funded programs that expand youth access to Tribal knowledge systems.

🔹 Core Values: Indigenous self-determination, ethical storytelling, cultural preservation, and community-driven innovation.
🔹 Key Strengths: Program development, digital education strategy, grant writing, cross-sector partnerships, cultural technology leadership, instructional design, eLearning technical development, learning management system integration, professional voice over coordination, evaluation and assessment, multimedia and document design

I am passionate about growing projects where Indigenous sovereignty, education, and technology converge. I’m seeking opportunities to scale my impact — leading broader initiatives that strengthen community agency, uplift Native voices, and build future-ready infrastructure for the next generations.

In my day job I am a Cultural Technologist with 15+ years of experience bridging journalism, technology, and Indigenous community leadership. My work lives where cultural preservation meets innovation: building pathways for Indigenous self-determination through education, storytelling, and digital solutions.

I'm Miwok, with ancestral homelands surrounding Sacramento, California. Our stories and sovereignty are not relics of the past — they are the foundation for powerful futures. I believe technology should serve Native communities, not define us. My wor... Show more

Francesca is a graphic designer with a background in the analogue era, which informs her approach to modern design. She is a web design professor at an academy, specializing in user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. An Apple enthusiast, Francesca utilizes technology to enhance her creative processes. Her expertise includes prototyping and design strategy, making her a valuable resource for questions related to design principles and practices. Through her teaching, she prepares aspiring designers to navigate the digital landscape effectively.

Francesca is a graphic designer with a background in the analogue era, which informs her approach to modern design. She is a web design professor at an academy, specializing in user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design. An Apple enthusiast,... Show more

Hailing from the Maldives, Yaamin has been working in multiple fields for the past 10 years, ranging from UIUX Design, motion design & strategic marketing. He is currently working with LottieFiles, a global platform to discover and create animations, collaborate, testing among designers, stakeholders, and developers, as there Global Partnerships lead, working on there education and awareness initiatives across the globe.

In his free time, he works on his own startup called Sparkhub (https://www.sparkhub.mv), a company working on empowering the Maldives startup culture.

Hailing from the Maldives, Yaamin has been working in multiple fields for the past 10 years, ranging from UIUX Design, motion design & strategic marketing. He is currently working with LottieFiles, a global platform to discover and create animations,... Show more

Tom is an experienced digital product designer, speaker, mentor and stand up comedian, with over 14 years of experience across digital and organisational landscape. Currently working as a consultant with world leading brands in Out of home industry. He is a creative entrepreneur, freelance community leader, well organised problem solver and a storyteller.

Tom is an experienced digital product designer, speaker, mentor and stand up comedian, with over 14 years of experience across digital and organisational landscape. Currently working as a consultant with world leading brands in Out of home industry. ... Show more

Rob has been working for ~10 years and has slogged his way through software engineer and team lead to reach the illustrious and coveted position of middle management.

This means he no longer writes code in his day job but instead looks on wistfully whilst he teaches others to grow into bigger and better things instead.

Rob has been working for ~10 years and has slogged his way through software engineer and team lead to reach the illustrious and coveted position of middle management. This means he no longer writes code in his day job but instead looks on wistfull... Show more

Jai is the owner and operator of the Hack3r Runway contest and shop. She is the designer behind many popular nerdy accessories, including the floppy disk earrings, and is a creator with shallow roots in the DMV area.

Jai is the owner and operator of the Hack3r Runway contest and shop. She is the designer behind many popular nerdy accessories, including the floppy disk earrings, and is a creator with shallow roots in the DMV area. Show more

Apasionado por la narrativa, el sonido y los videojuegos, ha tratado de reunir varias facetas artísticas para hacer de ellas su profesión, de forma que ha participado como integrante en diferentes bandas de música como la agrupación de música folk "Aljibe", investigador a través del título de musicólogo, y desarrollador de videojuegos durante más de 7 años en empresas indie, doble A, triple A e incluso iGaming en puestos como director de audio, lead game designer y narrative designer entre otros.

Apasionado por la narrativa, el sonido y los videojuegos, ha tratado de reunir varias facetas artísticas para hacer de ellas su profesión, de forma que ha participado como integrante en diferentes bandas de música como la agrupación de música folk "A... Show more

Diseñador gráfico en situación de visualización de datos. Activista del acceso a la información y la transparencia, docente y trollsko en redes. Entusiasta de mejorar la Experiencia de Usuario de la vida urbana.

Diseñador gráfico en situación de visualización de datos. Activista del acceso a la información y la transparencia, docente y trollsko en redes. Entusiasta de mejorar la Experiencia de Usuario de la vida urbana. Show more

Lukas Hüttis has successfully managed IT projects for music distributors & led development teams for over 10 years. Since 2018, the musician also runs his own recording studio Strong-Minded Productions. Now he shares his knowledge and experience in the field of NFTs & Web3 as a coach for individuals, musicians and companies and assists them in their entry into Web3. In 2022, he and his co-host Chris Wieduwilt launched the first German podcast focusing on music NFTs and music in web3 called "Digital Punks".

Lukas Hüttis has successfully managed IT projects for music distributors & led development teams for over 10 years. Since 2018, the musician also runs his own recording studio Strong-Minded Productions. Now he shares his knowledge and experience in t... Show more

Kate Jonuska is an author, freelance writer and yoga teacher based in Boulder, CO. Her short fiction was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and her first novel, Transference, was a finalist for the BookLife Prize. She's also the author of The Dictionary of Fiction Critique, now in its second edition. Details: http://katejonuska.com.

Kate Jonuska is an author, freelance writer and yoga teacher based in Boulder, CO. Her short fiction was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and her first novel, Transference, was a finalist for the BookLife Prize. She's also the author of The Dictionary... Show more

Frank Schalkwijk is ecosystem architect en grondlegger van het foundation-denken binnen Instant Enterprise. Hij helpt organisaties bewegen van centrale sturing naar verbonden groei, en maakt complexe ecosystemen begrijpelijk via kaders, patronen en ritme, die systemisch en praktisch toepasbaar zijn. Directeur en kennisondernemer bij Polliance

Frank Schalkwijk is ecosystem architect en grondlegger van het foundation-denken binnen Instant Enterprise. Hij helpt organisaties bewegen van centrale sturing naar verbonden groei, en maakt complexe ecosystemen begrijpelijk via kaders, patronen en r... Show more

Bachelor in Arts of Representation. With certifications in Social Engineering, Red Team & OSINT. Team Leader of Fr1endly RATs, the Social Engineering unit at Dreamlab Technologies Chile.
Specializing and developing techniques and methodologies for simulations of Phishing attacks, Vishing, Pretexting, Physical Intrusions and Red Team.

Bachelor in Arts of Representation. With certifications in Social Engineering, Red Team & OSINT. Team Leader of Fr1endly RATs, the Social Engineering unit at Dreamlab Technologies Chile. Specializing and developing techniques and methodologies for ... Show more

Mohit Bhoite works as a senior hardware engineer at Particle, where he designs and builds their flagship IoT products. He is also an avid maker who dedicates his personal time to building free-formed electronic circuit sculptures. He combines his background in electronics and robotics to create static and kinetic sculptures that convey information fetched over the internet through sound, light, and motion. These sculptures sometimes take on an anthropomorphic form thereby leading the viewer to attach personalities and emotions to them.

Mohit holds a master’s degree in Robotics from the University of Pennsylvania. He spent his time there as a research assistant at the ModLab helping build the next generation of modular robotics. Prior to this, he worked at a startup in Mumbai, India, developing robotic kits and conducting STEM focused workshops for high school and university students all across the country.

Mohit Bhoite works as a senior hardware engineer at Particle, where he designs and builds their flagship IoT products. He is also an avid maker who dedicates his personal time to building free-formed electronic circuit sculptures. He combines his bac... Show more

Tomislav Balala je umjetnik koji spaja riječ i zvuk u jedinstveno iskustvo slušanja. Kao glas iza projekta Sonus Liber, interpretira poeziju i bajke, stvarajući intimne audio svjetove koji nadilaze granice žanra. Pripovjedač, glazbenik i istraživač unutarnjih pejzaža, Tomislav koristi vlastitu glazbu, naraciju i atmosferu kako bi publiku uveo u stanje duboke pažnje i osjeta. Na Liburniconu donosi "Zmajevo srce" — autorsku bajku u nastajanju, koja se snima uživo uz sudjelovanje posjetitelja.

Tomislav Balala je umjetnik koji spaja riječ i zvuk u jedinstveno iskustvo slušanja. Kao glas iza projekta Sonus Liber, interpretira poeziju i bajke, stvarajući intimne audio svjetove koji nadilaze granice žanra. Pripovjedač, glazbenik i istraživač u... Show more

A trained actor with a curious background: from Theatre Studies, to Q/A, to Business Intelligence development, to full stack web development, I am the resident specialist PHP Developer Advocate at Global Cloud Communications giant Vonage. I founded Birmingham, UK's current PHP usergroup BrumPHP, hosted the Fusion Meetup Series, and organised the TechMids Developer Conference. I mentor, write and speak on PHP, JavaScript, DevOps, DevRel and tech culture. I pretended to be a DJ on the way.

A trained actor with a curious background: from Theatre Studies, to Q/A, to Business Intelligence development, to full stack web development, I am the resident specialist PHP Developer Advocate at Global Cloud Communications giant Vonage. I founded B... Show more

Karen is an award-winning and produced screenwriter, published novelist, and devoted foodie and traveler. She teaches for cruise lines, conferences, retreats, MeetUp Groups, and numerous on-line venues such as Scribophile, paid blog column, and RMFWU. Many of her stories are inspired by her experience marrying into a Taiwanese family. Food is often a subplot. Mu Shu Mac & Cheese and American Moon: A Chinese Immigrant Story can be found on Amazon. She, her husband, and their two boys have traveled the world as she researches recipes for a literary cookbook. She’s a pitch and writing coach for award-winning and bestselling authors.
http://www.karenalbrightlin.com
https://www.amazon.com/Shu-Mac-Cheese-Karen-Albright-ebook/dp/B08GGDQBLP
https://www.amazon.com/American-Moon-Chinese-Immigrant-Story-ebook/dp/B08B4FPN7Q
https://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Starts-Tales-Pikes-Writers-ebook/dp/B08YD1TWQ1
https://www.facebook.com/authorkarenalbright.lin/

Karen is an award-winning and produced screenwriter, published novelist, and devoted foodie and traveler. She teaches for cruise lines, conferences, retreats, MeetUp Groups, and numerous on-line venues such as Scribophile, paid blog column, and RMFWU... Show more

Timo Wienefoet ist Mitgründer der arq decisions GmbH und unterstützt Unternehmen dabei, ihre Zukunft schon heute erfolgreicher zu gestalten. Er hat innovative Lösungen nach Deutschland gebracht und die Planung von knapp 50 Scale-ups und Mittelständlern in Europa modernisiert. Seine Arbeit verbindet Schwarmintelligenz, Organisationsentwicklung und Prognosekompetenz zu einem praxisnahen Ansatz, der Entscheidungen zukunftssicher macht. Dabei hilft er Führungsteams, Unsicherheit nicht als Risiko, sondern als Partner zu begreifen – und sie gezielt für nachhaltigen Erfolg zu nutzen.

Timo Wienefoet ist Mitgründer der arq decisions GmbH und unterstützt Unternehmen dabei, ihre Zukunft schon heute erfolgreicher zu gestalten. Er hat innovative Lösungen nach Deutschland gebracht und die Planung von knapp 50 Scale-ups und Mittelständle... Show more

Zoltan Vardy is a B2B sales advisor, author and speaker who helps founders accelerate their revenue growth by sharpening their focus and structuring their sales to scale faster.

He’s generated $2 billion in sales over his 30 years as a C-suite executive and entrepreneur and has helped 200+ startups in 26 countries close high-ticket deals using The Launch Code sales framework — also the foundation of his book on founder-led sales.

Zoltan has had successful exits as a founder and investor and is chairman of Antavo, an enterprise SaaS company. Based in London and Budapest, he empowers entrepreneurs to turn their vision into reality.

Zoltan Vardy is a B2B sales advisor, author and speaker who helps founders accelerate their revenue growth by sharpening their focus and structuring their sales to scale faster. He’s generated $2 billion in sales over his 30 years as a C-suite exe... Show more